16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
I just had a tomato seed to sprout that has 4 seed leaves. This is the very first one I have ever seen. I decided to google it and found this forum, so I am now posting. I took pictures and I am posting a picture showing its very first seed leaves. I am very curious to see what its next growth will turn out like. I will let it grow out naturally to see what happens. This is the "Delicious" variety of tomato, from a seed I ordered online from Remier Seeds.
And if it is not feasable to soak your pots like Cole showed above, even going back and watering two or three times can help a container plant actually take up water. The root pathways get dry and sometimes just help the water run right through the plant. 5 gallons is not very big for a healthy, fruiting tomato. In my climate I would water twice daily at least and fertilize lightly several times a week.
Probably heat refection off the house.
IF the plants are in good soil in the ground and watered very well which in this heat (100+ degrees)should be twice a day then they really shouldn't be wilting.
As long as the roots are large, no disease, good drainage, well watered then no wilting should really occur even in 105 degree temps.
Mine have yet to wilt this year and we have had over 108 degree temps.
I have one branch wilt the past 2 weeks only because a damn squirrel jumped up into it and broke that branch 2/3rds in half, only 1/3rd of the branch is supplying water to that whole part of the plant and it has about 20 tomatoes on it.
It wilts when over 95+ but is still hanging in there.
All the rest of the plants and rest of that plant never wilt at all though. and that fact tells you it is the lack of water supply doing the wilting.
Another source is Twining vine Gardens. (link below)
Here is a link that might be useful: Twining Vine Gardens
I have some of the everglades growing. They are in their second year and the fruits have gotten larger and some of the plants seem to be suffering from the heat. I suspect they hybridized with some of the other varieties that are nearby.
I just got a fresh batch of seeds from http://myworld.ebay.com/fishfarmerjohn/?_trksid=p4340.l2559 Is it possible to isolate them and keep them from hybridizing? I have another property that is in the woods, hopefully far from any other varieties. I also have a large enclosed porch and a greenhouse there that could be used. Would they need to be hand pollinated?
Do you think it might work to do as you suggested above, but with the hose nozzle? This way I can keep the water off the leaves - mostly - but still try to simulate rain?
Not really as there is a much greater chance of triggering BER from over-watering. That is the trade off here - preventing BER from developing vs. getting the leaves wet this one time. After all we aren't talking about doing it all the time and it won't be the first time they got wet either.
As I said above I do NOT normally recommend this as I am well aware of the reasons for not doing it.
Your choice.
Dave
Hi, BER is running rampant. At first I did not know what was wrong with my poor tomatoes. The cherry and grape ones were fine, but the larger ones had a yucky rotten bottom. I did some research and found it was BER. I did not exactly know what to do since they were already planted and it was too late to treat the soil, so I went to the store and got some plant food that had added Calcium and after a week I noticed a few more tomatoes and there were fewer with the yucky stuff on the bottom.
Also I noticed that some of my tomatoes are blotchy red/orange and yellow. They look strange. I am afraid to eat them!
It's hard to know if the plant food helped, or if the problem just got better on its own. It is supposed to be the earlier tomatoes on a plan that get ber the worst.
I think your other problem might be sun scald. I have it myself, and I have read a lot of people complaining about the same problem, due to our intensely hot summer. The yellow tops will never turn red; just cut that part off. The rest is fine to eat.
Agreed this looks like blossom end rot. I have had similar problems with my San Marzano tomatoes which grew like crazy when hot humid weather hit. Same problem hit some of my peppers too. This is supposedly caused by a calcium deficiency ... which is aggravated during periods of very rapid growth.
I've had pretty good short term luck with foliar feeds of 'Rot Stop' ... which is a calcium bearing spray that is readily available online, from Ace Hardware etc. A longer term solution is to add some gypsum to your garden soil ,,, but this isn't going to do much good in the short term.
I have also heard of plain old skim milk being used as a calcium 'watering additive' ... but I've never tried it myself.
Blight or whatever. I had the same thing yellow spots on the leaves and the fruit gets injured. Fungi is the biggest enemy of backyard gardens. I lost have of the peach on my peach trees the peach gets injured and fall. I consulted with the county extension. They recommended spray program to all my trees and all my vegetables. I started the spray every 10 days I use spectracide all purpose fungicide. I saved half of my peach crop and my tomatoes recovered. For three weeks now not even one tomato got injured and all my plants look very healthy. The lady at the extension told me without fungicide spray the commercial producers will go bankrupt. The hot weather and occasional rain is a fertile condition to fungi.
Plant looking OK, like top lateral may replace growing tip, but no flowers yet. The one same age in same sized pot had flowers open today, I gave it to my aunt since the ones she bought at Mother's Day plant sale are dying (EB and maybe just neglect - she never planted the 2 cherries and 1 eggplant I gave her last month, looks like she didn't even water the eggplant!). The last one I took from 4" pot to 3gal pot is a little behind since it's only been in the big pot 2 weeks. Don't know if I can sell that one at market (will transport OK, the big one with flowers I didn't want to risk, aunt's car 1/2 mile up the road should be OK). May keep it as a "control".
Although the white thing on the tomato cage looks like a white fly, they're much smaller. If you have them, they will fly up in a little swarm when you shake the plant, and leaves will show damage. You could spray with spinosad or neem if you think they're hurting your plant. But your plants look healthy, so I would go slow.
I too have insects like Djole described every summer. I think they are some kind of leaf hopper. I've never seen them do any damage, I've never done any thing more than spray them with water.
It was humor :) but also it was meant to illustrate how many different species of whitefly there are - each with own differences in appearance, behavior etc.
Whitefly, leaf hopper or something else, 3 things are certain - its not fungus, and its not alarming and its been dealt with :). Just hose 'em like mentioned and keep a close watch on the plant for reappearances. Good luck ;)
Cheers,
Djole
As for reds, along with Gardener's Delight, i like Suncherry Premium from T&M.
I've planted some Berry F1 this season, had a chance to taste just a single ripe tomato so far and it tastes extremely promising :) I don't want to jump to conclusions at least until the season is over, but i think it might become my new favorite.
Hi DonnaB -
Our two favorites (of the cherrys) are both Black Cherry and Sungold, both of which you said you've grown. They seem to always come thru in terms of taste, disease resistance and prolificness (is that a word?).
The Sweet 100's, 1,000,000's et al while prolific, just don't seem to have the 'tomatoey' (is that a word? redux) taste of Black Cherry and even Sungold.
The only cherry we've never cared for is Yellow Pear which, granted, is cute but tastes like cold cream. YMMV .....
Will and the Furry Ones in the OC
Thanks for that info bigpinks. I'm very interested in any tomatoes that do well in the heat. I want to establish a tomato database and settle on some that I can grow here. I tried the Phoenix tomato last year and was unimpressed but may try it again. Can't really write anything off with only one try!!
Here's some info on the Mexico Tomato plant
Here is a link that might be useful: Mexico Tomato at TomatoFest
Below is a link to Tania's T-base about Mexico. I'm the Carolyn Male referred to and was the first to list it in the SSE YEarbooks, as you can see, and also sent it to certain other seed sites for trialall those many years ago.
I now longer live in Latham, and with 3,000 pages I doubt that Tania has had time to update all new sources for 2012.
Off the Vine, mentioned in the link, is an international newsletter that Craig LeHoullier and I used to publish.
And we used the same to name OTV Brandywine, an excellent variety that's sets fruits much better in the south than do most "brandywines".
Compared with many other large pink beefsteak varieties I've grown, Mexico is just not up there when it comes to taste. Having been grown in the Midwest for many years I didn't expect any heat tolerance, and didn't see any for it produced as well as most of the other varieties I've grown over the years.
Hope that helps.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Mexico
I grow pumpkins and heirloom tomatoes. I have found Diatomaceous earth to be an invaluable weapon against stink bugs. I also learned the best way to apply it which can be seen here http://youtu.be/HkrK8LvQPa8 . It is economical and it really really works.
Here is a link that might be useful: mlgardens
Is this just a few fruit or many? If many then it is often a sign of plant stress (usually water related) and it is dropping the fruit to try to survive - some call it fruit abortion although that is usually associated with small immature fruit. But number of fruit on the cluster doesn't usually play a role. The availability of moisture and the ability of the roots to support the plant with fruit does play a role.
If it is just a few - one here and there - then there can be many causes ranging from wind to pests to fruit injury. Do you actually see them fall or just find them on the ground later?
A further consideration is that some hybrids have been bred for "quick-release" for picking purposes so variety may play a role (but not in this case).
Dave
As for reapplications, you will have to check the label for instruction. Osmocotes do tend to last longer than ferts in form of sticks or similar, but nevertheless it can be tricky to know when they are done (one of the reasons i tend to use solubles on weekly basis). Keep in mind tomatoes are heavy feeders, so if the label says 4 months / 120 days, it might be 90-100 days for tomatoes.
You might also want to check the N-P-K ratio of your osmocotes since not all are the same - some are for flowers, some for pines, some for fruit etc. I've got Scotts Substral osmocotes for berries. It's intended for strawberries, raspberries, currants, etc. Due to the N-P-K ratio of 11-11-19 i've used them for my container peppers and they seem to enjoy it. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Djole
Plants grown in containers will need regular supplemental feedings throughout the season regardless of what is added to the soil at planting time.
Slow release fertilizers will leach out of containers with watering just like any other fertilizer does.
Dave
I had nutrition problems, followed by leaf disease, followed by more nutrition problems. I dont drink, maybe I should.......
This is the year I decided to stop trying to grow organic in my containers. I am much happier now, even without the beer LOL =)
Hmm, I was thinking, Geez, all those other problems, and now scale? (??) What's it being treated with in that bottle, looks like be.... ah.
Sorry for your losses. Hang in there! There's always next year.
Betsy